Suspended county attorney Reams hearing postponed

Wednesday

Jan 22, 2014 at 2:00 AM

CONCORD — Suspended from his elected post as Rockingham County attorney, James Reams cited the ongoing nature of a criminal investigation, with him as the target, as his reason for requesting that a final court hearing on the case be delayed until March.

Elizabeth Dinan

CONCORD — Suspended from his elected post as Rockingham County attorney, James Reams cited the ongoing nature of a criminal investigation, with him as the target, as his reason for requesting that a final court hearing on the case be delayed until March.

Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Richard McNamara granted Reams' request that the final hearing related to lawsuits he filed against the state attorney general's office and the Rockingham County Commission be continued until a date between March 10 and 13.

In his lawsuits, Reams alleges the attorney general suspended him from office and stripped him of prosecutorial power on Nov. 6 without the legal authority to do so, and that the county commission unlawfully barred him from his office.

In a motion dated Jan. 17, Reams' lawyer, Michael Ramsdell, asked the court to continue Tuesday's hearing, while noting "County Attorney Reams is aware that the Attorney General will not have concluded the criminal investigation" before Tuesday's hearing date. Rescheduling the hearing "will afford the Attorney General an adequate opportunity to complete the investigation," Ramsdell wrote.

The attorney general's office and county commission did not object to the continuance. Associate Attorney General Jane Young told the Herald that the state's investigation is "ongoing and active" and that because there is a financial component, the investigation will take time.

Ramsdell told McNamara on Tuesday that he provided the attorney general's office with additional financial information related to the case that morning.

On the same date Reams filed his motion to continue the case, his deputy, Tom Reid, and county victim advocate Tara Longo both resigned while under suspension.

The attorney general's office released a statement saying Reid "was not the target of a criminal investigation and our investigation has not revealed any evidence that he engaged in any criminal conduct."

Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards said Reid cooperated during the investigation and "we anticipate he will continue to cooperate with our ongoing investigation."

Longo, in a letter to the county commission dated Jan. 7, wrote that her resignation was also effective Friday. Her letter released the county "from any further legal action as it relates to this matter" and characterized her resignation as "the final resolution" relating to her employment with the county.

Last month, Young said Longo's credibility was called into question during the early stages of the investigation and that could potentially lead to opening old cases Longo was involved with. Public defenders statewide were notified about Longo's potential credibility problem, Young said.

The attorney general's office was first called to investigate Reams about allegations involving "discrimination," but the case grew to include an accounting of Reams' "federal forfeiture fund," Edwards previously said.

Reams, who has not been charged with a crime, has maintained his innocence.

Edwards previously testified that the attorney general's office was initially notified in mid-October about "alleged discriminatory acts." By Nov. 5, she said, the attorney general's office, FBI and the U.S. attorney's office had met with six witnesses outside the county to keep the meetings confidential.

The investigation confirmed some allegations made by Reams' "senior staff" and revealed new "issues" with a federal forfeiture account, Edwards said.

That account holds funds obtained through fines imposed for criminal convictions. Interim County Attorney James Boffetti has since said future fines will now go to the county.

Copies of the account information, obtained by Seacoast Media Group, show expenditures that included payments to police departments that helped with cases, American Express payments and checks written to a national district attorney's association for Reams to attend conferences.

Reams said he has documentation for all funds in the federal forfeiture account in a binder which, he said, he would have given to investigators, had they asked. He has also denied allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination and said that, "in legal context," he will be exonerated.

Reams previously filed a motion with the court seeking access to an investigatory report filed under seal by the attorney general's office, but a judge denied that request before returning the attorney general's report without reading it.

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